


The Mannequin.

by Athenastark06



Series: sanders statements [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29196387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athenastark06/pseuds/Athenastark06
Summary: *Testing testing, one two three* Hello and welcome to Sanders Statements, the new series run by the Sanders Institute PR team, set up in light of recent events. Somethings you need to note before heading in: This statement is a test, consider it a prolouge and look into the future of this crazy caper. This series will contain spoilers for both the Magnus Archives and Sanders Sides, but will also change a few events to keep with the planned storyline.
Series: sanders statements [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143584
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Mannequin.

**_Case 008-2212-001_ **

**_Janus: Statement of Roman and Remus Princeton, regarding a childhood encounter with an entity believed to be the stranger, statement recorded direct from subjects February 2 2021 by archival Assistant Janus Palmer._ **

**_Statement begins._ **

Remus: When we were six, our parents took me and Roman to see Mary Poppins in the west end, along with y- our older brother, Logan. I don’t remember much about the show, other than the fact I was confused, because it didn’t seem much like the disney film, and even though our parents had said it was a musical, no one was singing. So after about an hour I was way too bored to continue with the show. I wasn’t the only one either, Logan seemed pretty disillusioned with the show too, though he was 11 at the time and 11 year olds will act bored by anything. Eventually, I convinced Logan that I needed the toilet and we left the main theatre.

Roman: I was already feeling pretty weirded out by the show myself, so I left without our parents noticing a few minutes later, and ended up following them as they made their way through the theatre.

Remus: Logan was pretty easy to give the slip, even back then his main priority seemed to be books rather than people and he started reading before we were even fully out of the small crowd of people in the atrium. My original intention was, I think, to try to sneak backstage, honestly I don’t remember much, because the next thing I knew I had spotted a small door that probably should have been locked, and I decided to investigate, partially out of curiosity, partially out of boredom. The door squeaked as I opened it and I stepped out into a corridor which ended in a steep set of stairs. I left the door open as I went in to light my way and crept into the hallway and down the stairs.

Roman: I didn’t even consider telling Logan what Remus was doing, it was like this certainty that if anyone but me went to find Remus, bad things would happen, so I slipped in after him, trying to be quiet enough that he wouldn’t hear me, and slow enough that I’d never catch up to him.

Remus: the stairs lead down into a giant theatre. It was three stories tall, I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a perfect replica of the Apollo Victoria, only underground and entirely devoid of life. Or, that’s what I thought at first, but after a while I realised it wasn’t statues I was walking past as I walked through the replica theatre. [a deep breath] It was real people, each person was facing directly forward, eyes closed and chests rising and falling slowly, as if they were fast asleep, it was terrifying, but I was a stupid kid, and determined to explore this odd cavernous theatre. Eventually, I reached the stage, and a person came onto the stage. Well, person is the wrong word, it was a mannequin, the same height as your average teenage girl, with a painted on smile, she was silent for a few seconds, then she looked directly at me and she began to speak. “Oh hello!” she said, grinning at me in a way that made my skin crawl, and I began to back up. “I wouldn’t try to leave, silly, after all, this is for your brother, and you want to support your brother, don’t you?” she called, walking closer to me. I tried to say no, to tell her that no matter how much I loved my twin, nothing would ever mean so much to either of us that we’d want to stay somewhere like this, and besides, I thought Roman was still upstairs, trying to get our parents’ attention as they stared blankly at the stage. But then the mannequin walked forward and set a hand to my forehead with a sigh, and my vision swam before going black.

Roman: I didn’t see or hear any of that, because I was in the corridor still, but I came in a few minutes later, delighted by the fascinating replicure theatre and utterly delighted by what I initially thought were just really cool waxworks. Until I got to the front row, where I saw Remus, as silent and unmoving as all the other people sat in that theatre. I wanted to run to him, but it was as if something was wrapped around my feet, pulling me towards the stage. When I got to the steps, I heard the sound of applause start behind me, from the top back row and spreading down and forward, until every single person was applauding. Everyone other than Remus, who was looking directly at me, and I couldn’t shake the terrifying idea that he was staring at me in horror. Then she appeared, that awful mannequin, Remus didn’t really describe her properly earlier, she was wearing a red dress with golden accents and I remember thinking that she looked as if she was a ringmaster in circus, but it was her face that creeped me out, because half of her face was covered n human flesh, albeit slightly peeling, and the other half was just a mannequin’s face, apart from where you could see the mechanisms that moved her jaw and allowed her to talk, and god did she talk, in a voice that sounded like a slightly off key song. She told me that it wasn’t my time yet, but that I would need to remember that place and how to get there, because one day I would need to come back. “One day, you will do great things, you will be a hero, and dance the world into a new age, one where you rule and no one can tell you what to do, and you’ll never be bored again.” she told me. “I don’t want to rule,” I said “I’m just here to find my brother.” She smiled at that, “you can take him if you like, there are certain… people who would object to me killing him any way, but it might save you a lot of pain if you let him die now.” I shook my head and ran towards where Remus was sitting, trying to get him to look at me, instead of staring straight ahead as if into a great abyss. Finally he did, and I pulled him away and out into the corridor, the once inviting dark now seeming to press down on us as we ran back into the atrium and over to Logan, who looked surprised to see us looking so terrified, and grew frustrated when neither of us would tell him what happened.

Remus: I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to tell this story and choked, even to the institute, it always seemed as if it wasn’t the right time to tell.

**_Statement ends._ **

**_Janus: In the few days since this statement was given to us, I have done some digging and discovered several things, the first is that, given the fact Roman and Remus were born in June of 2005, the year of this statement would either be 2011 or 2012, according to Roman, it was the later end of 2011, which is unusual, as both Virgil and I have looked for performances of Mary Poppins on the west end in 2011 and found none, but both twins have insisted that was the year and the show. I was tempted to dismiss this statement and not mention it to Logan, until I heard Logan offhandedly mention a disappointing childhood viewing of Mary Poppins when he was 11. However, the mention of a mannequin is quite disturbing, as it seems to indicate the involvement of the stranger, and of Nikola Orsinov. I have decided not to mention this to anyone yet, as we are already dealing with Logan’s crisis upon discovering the true role of the archivist._ **


End file.
